Ring 280’s 10 Year Anniversary Reunion

Post date: Aug 23, 2011 6:32:14 PM

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Ring 280's Ten Year Anniversary Reunion

Glenn Crites

June marked Ring 280's 10th anniversary. Our celebration included very special guests, our Ring's founder and first president Jim Lauffer and our Ring's name sakes, Mark and Nani Wilson. Jim told the story of how that first meeting came about, ten years ago. Jim's friend, Roger Miller (IBM Board of Trustees) encouraged him to start an IBM Ring in the Santa Clarita Valley (a suburb north of Los Angeles). While newer members learned about the Ring's history, our founding members, many who are still with us, reminisced and caught up with old friends.

The evening began with the display of an incredible work of edible art created by Angelee Love (Angelee's Edible Art), who is the wife of our past president, Bob Love. Angelee has been our purveyor of gourmet cookies over the past several years, created a special work of cake art. The cake recreated the top hat used in Mark Wilson's pioneering TV magic show, "The Magic Land of Allakazam."In recognition of our ten-year anniversary, June's theme was: "Magic that has withstood the test of time." Our members were encouraged to present tricks that they have been performing for years, and tell us about how their performance has evolved over the years. Several members presented their favorite tricks along with anecdotes about their presentation. Mark Wilson shared a story about a trick that involved sending the deck in the mail to an international client, who chose their card and locked in a safe. Mr. Wilson described in detail for us the presentation he used to make this clients experience most memorable.

Our anniversary meeting was also most memorable. Thank you to our members who work hard to put the evening together, especially our Ring Historian, Brian Hoffman.